Social Media #struggle: What Comes Next for United?

Now that the damage is done what are some steps that United Airlines can take to rectify this blunder?

Apologize, apologize, apologize!

Admitting when you have made a mistake can go a long way when trying to preserve your brand’s image. It of course does not help that UA immediately after the event stated that the passenger was being “belligerent and rude,” which turned out to be not true. Admitting your company was wrong can have a lasting effect with consumers, as long as the apology is perceived as genuine.

Cut their losses and jump into the “Big Bath”

It seemed UA only started caring about the incident after their stock took a nosedive once it became apparent that this would become viral in the social media stratosphere. Taking monetary measures in order to make the situation right (whether you want to or not) can add to the commitment of the apology. Paying for the victim’s hospital bill would be a great place to start.

Commit to solving “Overbooking”

Having a better tracking system to determine which employees need to get on the plane will help avoid last minute overbooking issues. Being transparent with consumers about how this process works will add a level of comfort to their purchases. Even though this practice is widely-used by many airlines catching these issues before passengers board planes will avoid the level of escalation that we saw during the incident.